Small tendrils of pastel colors shudder in the wake of someone breezing through the Corridor Gallery at Visual Arts Nova Scotia. Kyle Alden Martens’ Studies of Intercourse and Water is an installation of hundreds of slips of thin silicone cut from swim caps. They are stuck to the wall of the gallery, suspended like a cascade of confetti ticker tape that has been frozen in time. Hung there, shivering at the slightest wind. 
Kyle Alden Martens, Studies of Intercourse and Water, 2015, silicone swimming caps, white tape (photo: Joel Tsui)
The skin-like material in shades of pink, blue, and white hangs limp in the perpetual dry/wet that silicone allows. They queer this enclosed thoroughfare, drawing thoughts of sex toys and awkward hesitations to mind. They speak of athletic swim spaces – spaces rich with homoeroticism and yet heavy with the exclusion of queer bodies. Martens has cut away from his experiences in athletic spaces. He has dissected their imagery to create this installation and presented his dissection in the safe place of the gallery. The strange subtle movements of the silicone strips invite you to take comfort in the uncomfortable. Their frozen suspension in the air celebrates a moment of hesitation. A breath held in anticipation. A breath taken before you jump in over your head.
Corridor Gallery: http://www.visualarts.ns.ca/category/exhibitions/corridor-gallery-exhibitions/
Kyle Martens: Studies of Intercourse and Water continues until October 28.
Anna Taylor is an artist, crafter, and organizer sitting on the board of the Halifax Crafters Society. She is Akimblog’s Halifax correspondent and can be followed on Twitter @TaylorMadeGoods.
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Kyle Alden Martens at the Corridor Gallery, Halifax
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